New School vs. Old School Skating

First a few thoughts on vintage skate paraphernalia. For street cruisin’ 7 ply concave top decks are not the way to go. Transportation means long distances traversed on four wheels two feet. A concaved deck is not copacetic with the arches in the feet. Only a few deck manufacturers seems to have picked up on this bit of ergonomic information. While for skate rats adhering to the motto “Skate and Destroy” concave decks may offer heightened control for Ollie tricks, a flat top is more suited to long distance travel. Imagine hours or miles of friction created by the opposite geometry of concave vs. convex. It just doesn’t make sense. “Old School” and longboard manufacturers seem more in tune with the concept of traversing long distances, carving mellow banks, and rolling over rough concrete and asphalt. Flex, rocker, or “give” in the board offer a more comfortable ride, especially to those over 30. The concept of pumping the skateboard has experienced a new awakening, and this equally can apply to both longboards and shortboards. As with any aesthetic the boundaries become blurred, and the connoisseur fully must understand the intent of their craft. A carefully chosen stick can satisfy a number of requirements. Sadly the art of slalom skateboarding has been overlooked as the root of LBP or “Longboard Pumping.” In the seventies getting through the cones quickly meant not only being able to turn or carve on a dime, but weighting and unweighting as one navigated the tightly spaced path. A “tall,” narrow-width axle, and loosely-turning truck was conceived for such an act. Not many people seem to realize the Jeff Ho and Skip Engblom designed and built original Zephyr skateboard served such as purpose. The conception of this watershed design is what allowed Dogtown’s Z-Boys to devise and develop their personal surf-oriented skateboard style. While based upon Hobie’s rockered and railed fiberglass Super Surfer model, the Zephyr board included the Sure Grip truck and Cadillac wheel as needed customization. Only so much performance could be eked out of compressed nut shells wheels and open ball bearings. The combination of these four elements produced a skateboard equally qualified for slalom, carving banks, and achieving speed by pumping the board. The rocker shape contoured to the body compressing into a turn, the rails prevented “wheel bite,” the somewhat tall Sure Grip trucks provided a tight turning radius, and the urethane wheels both gripped and slid on pavement when necessary. It was a catharsis, one that would not have occurred had it not been for Skip Engblom and Jeff Ho. While the stylistic roots of skateboarding had been pioneered in an earlier decade based upon other board sports, this configuration is what allowed skateboarding to flourish fueled by the talent and devotion of Dogtown’s Z-Boys. To understand the nature of skateboarding at its core, an examination of the Z-Boys style crucial. The New School of skateboarding, while in some ways similar, is quite different. The requirement of intricate balance is not such an imperative. The boards have a lower center of gravity, have concaved edges, and have longer noses and tails. In comparison to the surf shape they almost qualify as balance boards. Therefore a clear delineation must be made in choosing one’s aesthetic and one’s board.